The ring and pinion are fine,can't see any obvious damage there.I am waiting on a guy at the local 4WheelParts who has one he is parting out to get back with me.He is making me a sweet deal on some spider gears.I am now starting to realize why everyone hates this rearend.While everyone harps about the Dana 44,I have reservations about that one,also.I had a 1965 GMC truck with a Dana 44 sitting behind a 1972 Buick 350 engine and TH350 trans.I shelled out that rearend 3 different times.Perhaps the 4.0 Jeep doesn't produce enough power/torque to re-produce that issue,but I'm not sure I want to find out,either!Since this is my DD,for now I'm repairing the TURDY-5,but will procure and start building a 9"Ford or a Dana 60.Call it overkill,but I don't want to pump money into something I have past bad experiences with!